Although I have lived in New York City since 1973 and I have always lived in Cong. Charles Rangel’s Congressional district, I have never voted for Rangel and not because he is a political “scoundrel”. I enrolled in Georgia at eighteen years of age as an “independent”. I voted for Dick Gregory for president in 1968.

This has been my typical modus operandi since I moved to New York City. I would sign the voter book, go into the polling booth and not vote for anyone. I have changed my modus operandi, for example, when Judge Bruce Wright ran for New York Supreme Court and Al Sharpton ran for U.S. Senate in 1992. There have been a few other notable exceptions.

Until I have a political party that expresses my philosophy and a Black agenda that expresses my views, I should not be voting. To do otherwise, is synonymous with plantation politics and it is akin to enslaved Africans leaving the slave quarters daily to pick cotton. At the end of the day, Blacks have picked the cotton and the slavemaster has collected the profits. There is no quid pro quo.

Blacks, who are enrolled in the Democratic Party, amount to a swing vote. These voters can swing an election like they have “swung from trees”. This is “plantation politics”. Blacks lack the ability to bargain with the Democratic Party like a Black defendant has the inability to bargain with a prosecutor.

I do not like the idea of fattening a lion. It will come back to bite me. This is only natural. Blacks have fattened the Democratic Party. It has come back to bite us. Cong. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. became a powerful member of Congress but when he convened a Black Power Conference on Capitol Hill, all bets were off.

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will”. There is a lot in the teachings of Frederick Douglass. He knew that voting was an exercise in futility without an agenda. For example, Jews have an agenda. Politics works for them. Blacks have no agenda. Politics has not worked for us.

Unless Blacks in New York fashion an agenda by September 2012, voting in the general election in November 2012 will be an exercise in futility. The Democratic Party was established as a pro-slavery party and after the Civil War it is still a white, supremacist, political party. A leopard is unable to change its spots and a zebra is unable to change its stripes.

This is natural law and natural law is the philosophical basis for American jurisprudence. The Declaration of Independence is based on natural law. It is mentioned in this founding document. The term “civil rights” was not mentioned in American jurisprudence until 1866. Thus, only white men enjoy natural rights.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC, campaign finance has become an inseparable part of voting. This ruling gave plutocrats and unions free speech rights in politics. Before this decision, wealthy individuals and unions could only enjoy First Amendment rights in politics through political parties.

The ruling in Citizens United v. FEC has given plutocrats and unions the ability to arm themselves with delivery systems. This has meant campaign finance deregulation. Election officials now not only count votes but also dollars. In politics, dollars have come out of the closet.

Given the effect of Citizens United v. FEC, Blacks can ill-afford not to make changes in their political habits. This means not only the establishment of an independent voice in politics but also the formation of a political cartel which now also exists in the governments of New York State and New York City.

In or about 1968, public affairs programs like “Black News”, “Like It Is” and “Positively Black” came on the scene in the tri-state area. These programs never became pure, public affairs programs, however. Blacks never learned that the airwaves belong to the public and not to a media conglomerate. This is evidenced by the licensing process in radio and television.

Now, public affairs programs are virtually defunct in the Black community because Blacks have no knowledge of media rights and lack a media rights organization. One can imagine the effect of whites losing political supremacy if public affairs programs like “Meet the Press”, “Face the Nation” and “This Week” went off the tube.

In an era of Citizens United v. FEC, it is imperative that Blacks enjoy public affairs programs oriented to the Black community. Public affairs programs also enable voters to understand political issues and to fashion political agendas. Censorship results from, in part, and sustain itself from a lack of public affairs programs. Medgar Evers was assassinated in 1963 opposing media censorship.

WNYmedia Network is a user generated content & video delivery network of blogs and websites focused on Progressive Politics, Public Good, Live Music, Great Food, Good Government and Lousy Sports Teams in Buffalo and Western New York.
Buffalo's largest network of Progressive journalists, bloggers, activists, politicians, content creators and other media professionals delivering live video, local news and daily social trends in Buffalo and Western New York.